Occupy Comics' new home is powered by 'old punks.' Check out some excerpts in our exclusive gallery.

"Casino Nation" work-in-progress, written by Joshua Dysart and illustrated by Allen Gladfelter

"Exploitation: Our Noble Tradition" written by Douglas Rushkoff and illustrated by Dean Haspiel

"That Which Is Most Needed"
written by J.M. DeMatteis and illustrated by Mike Cavallaro

"Follow The Cards"
written by Swifty Lang and illustrated by Frank Reynoso

The mainstream comics industry has spawned another alternative supergroup. 30 Days of Night creator Steve Niles and Epitaph Records owner and Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz have banded together with Halo-8’s Matt Pizzolo to form Black Mask Studios with the stated aim of disrupting the comics market.

“It’s become this monopolized walled garden where you’re only allowed to grow two things: superheroes and movie treatments,” Pizzolo told Wired via e-mail. “We’re going to open new space outside the entrenched market where we can cultivate more subversive experimental and literary comics to reach broader audiences.”

Inspired by the controversial but influential 1960s anarchists Up Against the Wall Motherfuckers and Edgar Allen Poe’s class-conscious gothic short “The Masque of the Red Death,” Black Mask Studios was teased Sunday during WonderCon’s spotlight panel on Niles, who serves as creative director. Pizzolo runs the biz as president, and Gurewitz’s Epitaph Records empowers the indie operation.

Black Mask’s first order of business will be the benefit compilation Occupy Comics (a taste of in-progress pages for the compilation are exclusively previewed in the gallery above). Initiated last year by organizer Pizzolo’s Kickstarter project, Occupy Comics features visual and written contributions from Molly Crabapple, Mike Allred, Douglas Rushkoff and many more, including visionaries Alan Moore and David Lloyd, whose V For Vendetta has supplied the worldwide Occupy and Anonymous movements with their anti-fascist iconography and ideology.

“We share that DIY approach; everything I know about business I learned in the New York hardcore scene.”

“Comics and punk have a lot in common, being transgressive art forms with under-appreciated potential for social influence,” Gurewitz said in an e-mail to Wired. “Leveraging Matt’s brilliant Occupy Comics model with Black Mask Studios might be disruptive, in a really good way, for both artists and fans.”

Black Mask plans to plumb its heavily internetworked fan base to release physical and digital comics, as well as merchandise. It’s also invested in evangelizing the cause of ethical ownership.

“I’m really excited about this project,” Niles told Wired via e-mail. “Since the advent of the direct market and the disappearance of the spinner rack, I’ve watched comics sales fall due to lack of exposure.”

Pizzolo hopes that Black Mask can help reverse that process, or at least inject its hybrid physical and digital model with the type of challenging comics that seemed to ceaselessly replicate up until the turn of the 21st century. The fact that they’re a trio of what Pizzolo called “old punks” should help matters.

“We share that DIY approach; everything I know about business I learned in the New York hardcore scene,” he explained. “We designed the company to be more creator-friendly than the majors, but less winner-take-all than the indies. We want to build a coalition where everyone can do their own thing but interests are aligned so we’re all in it together.”

Molly Crabapple and John Leavitt's 'We're All in This Together' fleshes out Occupy Comics' fatcat critique.Images courtesy Black Mask Studios